Obituaries for Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Mr. Weatherford was born April 28, 1926, in Cornerville, Arkansas (Lincoln County) to the late Earl Homer and Evie Lucille Jones Weatherford. He was reared and received his education in Star City, where he graduated from Star City High School in 1946. He attended the University of Arkansas at Monticello for two years. He joined the United States Army in 1950. He was a Corporal during the Korean Conflict and was a gunner on 81 mm mortar. He was honorably discharged from the United States Army in 1952.

Mr. Weatherford worked at the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Security for 25 years before retiring in 1990.

He was a member of New Testament Baptist Church in Dollarway, where he had served as a deacon.

Mr. Weatherford is survived by two sons, Gray and Mark Weatherford, both of White Hall; two daughters, Vicki Bryant of White Hall and Jan Hauta of Elk River, Minnesota; 11 grandchildren; 30 great-grandchildren; 2 great-great grandchildren; brother, Russell Weatherford of Dumas; and two sisters, Bernice Matthews of Star City and Marilyn Cook of Southaven, Mississippi.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Nellie Mae Hill Weatherford, whom he married December 23, 1950 in Lincoln County; son, Tobey Weatherford; and four brothers, Gerald, Hollis, Desmond, and Voy Weatherford.

Funeral services will be Wednesday, May 9, 2018, 1:00 PM, in the Chapel of Ralph Robinson & Son with Reverends Carl Weatherford and Elmer Byerly officiating. Burial will follow at Butler Cemetery in Star City.

Visitation will be Wednesday, May 9, 2018, from noon until 1:00 PM, at Robinson’s.

He was born February 25, 1944 in Pine Bluff, son of the late William P. Blankenship, Sr. and Jane Newton Blankenship.

Don was reared and received his early education in Linwood, graduating from Pine Bluff High School in 1962. He attended the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Don finished college at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Degree.

He served from 1967-1968 on the Aircraft Carrier USS-Ticonderoga, CVA-14, V-2 Division near the coast of Vietnam. He was honorably discharged from the United States Navy Reserve in August 1972.